Well, there goes Christmas until next December. And here comes my darkest time of year. When I was supply teaching and mothering at home, January and February were my months of low, slow living. The bright lights were down, the children back at school. There wasn’t enough light in the day to do anything much and I basically squared my shoulders and set off to … Continue reading Wintering
It’s a hard fact of life that sometimes time is the slipperiest of creatures and whole lengths of it escape through your fingers, meaning that what you thought was a week free from interruptions and full of space to write is actually a week of minor irritations, major preparations and a lot more little bits of work than you needed. I will catch up with … Continue reading Cosying Up for Christmas
Have you now or have you ever had a real Christmas tree? When I was young, we never had a real tree. Our Christmas tree, for most of my formative years, was a plastic tinsel-boughed thin and twiggy tree. The strips of plastic drifted slowly off year after year until it really rather resembled Charlie Brown’s tree, but without the advantage of being recyclable. For … Continue reading Oh, Christmas Tree: Christmas Hygge through Christmas Hiraeth
When I wrote the other day of Advent Calendars, it set me off thinking. What was Advent like when I was small? To be honest, I think Advent was something we celebrated more at school and not particularly at home. I seem to remember painting at least one Christmas scene to be covered over by numbered paper and revealed in order. I do know that … Continue reading 24 Small Squares for Advent: Christmas Hygge Through Christmas Hiraeth Day 2
Almost my first act on December 1st is to put my Christmas wreath on the front door. I have a special hook permanently in the door and, indeed, for the past ten years have had a wreath which alters according to the season on the door. I like having a wreath there. I like the symbolism. When I was a child, I don’t remember ever … Continue reading The Wreath on the Door: Christmas Hygge through Christmas Hiraeth Day 1
Wales crashed out of the World Cup last night. I’m really sorry for that, and even sorrier that it had to be England that crashed them out. Thanks to a Great Grandmother, I am one eighth Welsh, and immensely proud of a small little nation that has such a sense of self-worth and history that it can stand against the bigger nations of the world … Continue reading Christmas Hygge Through Christmas Hiraeth
Way, way back when I was a child, advent calendars didn’t have any chocolate pieces in. They were card, with thinly translucent paper behind doors that sometimes proved difficult to open. You could have winter scenes, with rosy-faced children on sledges or Santa working in his shirtsleeves to create rocking horses, pull-along wooden trains and dolls with improbably wavy hair or, as we used to … Continue reading Advent Calendars: So Much More than Chocolate.
Full Disclosure: Becci Coombes, the author, is a member of The Hygge Nook on Facebook and also follows me on Instagram. I’ve ordered from her shop, http://www.hyggestyle.co.uk before now and I really love the scandi style she has. When she got in touch and offered me a review copy of Craft Your Own Cosy Scandi Christmas, I said yes straight away. Not because it was … Continue reading Book Friday: Craft Your Own Cozy Scandi Christmas by Becci Coombes (Gift ideas, craft projects and recipes for festive hygge)
How to Hygge the British Way 